2019-07-17 - Benicia, CA - Light

Satellite like object moving across sky in an erratic, squiggly motion

The evening of July 17, 2019, I was sitting on my patio lounge chairs, facing north. It was warm and the stars were out.

At 9:50 pm, the moon had not yet risen, I was watching the stars through my Vortex 10X42 binoculars. I spotted a satellite moving south, just below the constellation of Cygnus. It was faint, approximately 6 magnitude, since I could not see it with my naked eyes. I thought I was holding my binocular unsteady since the satellite was moving erratically. I realized it was the satellite that was erratic since all the stars in the background were steady. Its course was constant, never stopping, but the pinpoint of light was moving about in squiggles, like holding a laser pointer in an unsteady fashion. Sometimes it appeared to do a complete circle. The amplitude of the erratic behavior was about 5% of my binoculars view. I watched it for about three minutes.